Another Blow to Ralph Reed

This is from Tom Bevan, Executive Editor of Real Clear Politics, in today’s WSJ Political Diary …

Last Thursday, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee issued its final report on the infamous Jack Abramoff lobbying-related scam that bilked six Indian tribes of an astonishing $66 million. One of the casualties was Ralph Reed, the former Christian Coalition director who now is seeking election in his own right as a candidate for lieutenant governor of Georgia.

The committee’s report includes unflattering details of Mr. Reed’s financial dealings with Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty to various felonies. Abramoff appears to have funneled $4 million in fees from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians to Mr. Reed’s consulting firm, Century Strategies. This money flowed through a number of conduits, one of them being Americans For Tax Reform, the group run by influential conservative political organizer Grover Norquist.

Nell Rogers, a planner for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, testified before the Committee that Abramoff indicated the use of financial conduits was necessary “to accommodate Mr. Reed’s political concerns.” Apparently that’s because Mr. Reed was promoting a moral stand against gambling while Mr. Abramoff’s clients were providing the money only because they wanted to nix any potential competition to their own casinos.

Mr. Reed has reiterated his claim that he was misled by Abramoff into believing the money paid to Century Strategies had not come from gaming interests. Mr. Reed also strained to play up the bright side of the Committee’s findings: “The report confirms that I have not been accused of any wrongdoing.”

Will this be enough to persuade Georgia Republicans, who go to the polls in just over three weeks to decide Mr. Reed’s fate? A new poll taken over the weekend (after news broke of the Committee’s report) showed Mr. Reed’s lead over his primary opponent, Casey Cagle, shrinking to a mere three points, 44-41, down from a six-point lead in May. Also of concern: Nearly half (47%) of Republicans surveyed in the poll have an unfavorable opinion of Mr. Reed (Bevan, Wall Street Journal Political Diary, June 29, 2006).

Share this:

80 comments

Also, this was today’s Quote of the Day from the same edition of PD from WSJ …

“It’s hard to believe that [former Christian Coalition leader Ralph] Reed, whose skill at mixing religion and politics made him a Time cover-boy 11 years ago at age 33, could have been duped by Abramoff. Reed’s campaign to become lieutenant governor of Georgia is still thriving, but let’s see what happens when the evangelicals he once served absorb the evidence in the Senate report. It’s damning. It depicts an enterprise that used religious voters as marks: Lobbyists effortlessly twisted them to achieve goals sometimes directly at odds with their beliefs. They were punk’d… The Reed story confirms what many devout Christians have argued since conservative social activists became a force in national politics in the 1970s: Engaging in worldly political maneuvering is ultimately debasing” — Slate.com’s chief political correspondent John Dickerson.

Is every article about Reed from the liberal media? I think according to the Reed people facts are not important! Poor ole Ralph! He should be a man and admit what he did was wrong and boarder line illegeal! He is not a good role model for our children. Remeber the Bible does not say Do as I say not as I do!

The “liberal media”? Apparently you missed the part where I indicated this was published as an editorial by the WALL STREET JOURNAL.

I know reading is difficult for liberals, which explains why they love the surface level BS from the AJC and NYT, so the Journal is a little above their heads. But c’mon … even if you are a Reed support, you should be conservative, and should therefore be able to determine that the WSJ is not part of the “liberal media.”

Also, FYI, Real Clear Politics isn’t the “liberal media” either.

If dodging and claiming this is another report by the “liberal media” (even though it is from the WSJ) is your defense, then we will just assume you don’t have a real defense. Nice try.

Okay… I have no respect for the people who are continuing to hawk Ralph Reed as a candidate for this office. They are almost as self serving as Ralph Reed himself. At this point, there is no convincing reason to stand by Ralph’s house of lies and distortion and allow him to continue to destroy the Georgia Republican Party.

First off, Senator Eric Johnson also contributed $1000 to Mark Taylor. If that’s a reason to vote against Casey Cagle, is it also a reason to vote against Johnson?

As well, Ralph Reed is attacking Casey Cagle over bills that the entire Republican Senate Caucus voted for and supported, including Governor Sonny Perdue. If those are reasons to vote against Casey Cagle, are they also reasons to vote against Republican State Senators and the Governor?

Come on. This is horse shit.

Ralph Reed is eye ball deep in political scandal and we have Republican leaders who think he needs to be elected in Georgia?

19 more days til Ralph returns to his day job; raising money, losing elections. By November, there will likely be a well funded ‘Ralph Reed Defense Fund’ helping to defray the incredible costs of defending the indefensible.

Debbie, I always post a link if it is relevant and if there is one there. The story here is from the WSJ Political Diary – that is a daily email briefing sent to subscribers, and online access is restricted, so bottom line: THERE IS NO LINK!

As for the Slate.com story … I never referred to that story. I took a quote that was used as the Quote of the Day in today’s Political Diary, and it happened to be about Reed, by someone at Slate. I posted the quote and didn’t refer to the story. There was no argument there – just a quote … that’s why I didn’t put the quote on the front page post.

Here’s my advice: speak up if you actually have a legitimate defense. Your dodging, complaining, and excuses just aren’t going to work.

Can you not really see that Reed made mistakes in his past work? Just admit that, please! Just admit that Ralph made some bad decisions, misled his clients, unethically deceived many people about his undisclosed business dealings. C’mon, just admit that. It’s as clear as day. Any child can look at the facts.

I am sorry but you do try to mislead. You posted a partial quote from an article. By the way, did you post the entire email or just a portion?

Can you admit Cagle made bad errors in judgement like when he lied about the Taylor contribution and the threat? Can you admit Cagle was afraid of Roy Barnes when he voted against a GOP Driver’s License Bill and voted with Barnes and 27 Democrats? Can you admit that Cagle became a millionaire in four years while serving on the Senate Banking Committee?

>>”””Can you admit Cagle made bad errors in judgement like when he lied about the Taylor contribution and the threat?””” I admiteddly don’t know that he “lied” about this. If you show me a quote of Casey’s admission or substantial evidence, then yes, I will admit that. (FYI, there is beyond substantial evidence that Ralph lied).

>>”””Can you admit Cagle was afraid of Roy Barnes when he voted against a GOP Driver’s License Bill and voted with Barnes and 27 Democrats?”””

I cannot admit that Cagle was afraid, b/c I am not him, but voting against a GOP bill does not make him afraid or a bad Republican.

>>”””Can you admit that Cagle became a millionaire in four years while serving on the Senate Banking Committee?”””

If you can show me the facts that Cagle made money through illegal or unethical behavior (that is, actions which have been scrutinized by the government already), then yes, I will admit this. But the bottom line here, Deb, is that we have a part time legislature, meaning members of that body are free to make money in their businesses, as long as it is ethical and legal. Ethics committe, as well as numerous independent organization, monitor and investigate the actions of our legislators, and they have found no wrong doing by Cagle.

So, what’s your point? I have answered your questions. Now, just admit that Ralph lied. Admit he made bad decisions, which led to his unethical behavior. Admit that Ralph duped his clients and profited off of it.

Your accusations are baseless. Where are the committe hearings? Where are the court cases? Where are the emails, phone conversations, filing disclosures, etc, etc, etc? Where is your proof, because I promise: THERE IS PLENTY OF PROOF ON RALPH REED and don’t think that Cagle supporters won’t use every single bit of it in the next three weeks!

Three weeks to the primaries, more or less. I think it’s too close for either side to declare they’re going to be the winner at this point, and there’s not enough time (barring a phenomenal event such as an indictment or discovery of sex in a closet) to gain clear advantage.

I’m betting it’s going to be a matter of turnout.

I’m also betting that there won’t be many cross-ballot voters. Dems have a pretty hard choice between Cox and Taylor, and if they choose to pick the “bet foe” in the R, they lose their “best choice” in their own fight. Added to that is the question – should they decide to cross ballot – of which candidate to choose. Conventional wisdom is that Cagle would be more ‘acceptable’. Conventional wisdom is that Reed is a ten point advantage to the Dem ticket across the board. So if they cross, do they choose to cut their losses or enhance their chances of winning, all at the cost of maybe getting “the other Dem” as their governor?

Nah. We’ll see most D voting the D primary, and most R voting the R primary, and regardless a low enough turnout overall that “he (or she) who brings the most guns wins.”

From Cagle’s “The Caution Flag” April 25
Giving Money to Mark Taylor
In 1998, Ralph Reed ran Mitch Skandalakis’ campaign for Lt. Governor that embarrassed all Republicans with its libelous attacks against Republican Clint Day in the primary and Democrat Mark Taylor in the general. In the aftermath of Ralph’s disgraceful, racist, lying campaign, Taylor threatened the Republican Senate leadership, of which I was a member. If we did not make a contribution to him to “bury the hatchet

Let me explain to you Reed folk what is a push poll and what is not. First, i would like to say that i doubt and would put money on the fact that Cagle did not push poll. First, it would be stupid to push poll this early. The Reed campaign would be able to respond to a push poll if it happened a few weeks ago. Second, just because a poll talks about a candidates negatives does NOT make it a push poll. There is this little thing called an INFORMED BALLOT poll, where the pollster asks people how certain negatives will affect their vote.

Push Poll Example (though not the best): Would you vote for Ralph Reed if you knew that in highschool Reed had a homosexual relationship and was addicted to cocaine?

Informed Ballot Example: Would you support a candidate who was involved in the Enron scandle that cost thousands of people thier jobs, and put at risk teacher pensions?

See both of those contain a negative, but one is meant to depress a candidates voters, and the other is meant to see how people react to a lot of different negatives, so that they know what negatives are best to spend money on TV ads.

Push polling is for right before an election – not a month or so out.

Now before you Reed people start attacking, know that i am a dem and hope that Reed wins, because then we can tie him and all his sleaze around every republican candidate. It will also give us the only chance to keep the LG spot.

That’s actually a good analysis, Stephanie. That’s the best explanation of a push poll that I’ve read on this thread. As someone that looks at a lot of data on these types of races, its nice to hear some reasonable responses on numbers.

Now, as for Bill’s response, he clearly indicates someone that doesn’t really follow, which is becoming all too common from Ralph’s folks.

Bill, they were two different polls, with two completely different samples. The 6 point lead in the previous poll showed numbers that were realistic indicators of a neck-in-neck race. Strat Viz polls show one thing and that is TRENDS. The trends from SV polls show Ralph’s originally high numbers falling, and Casey’s low numbers continuously going up.

Now, here is the thing about this race, and someone mentioned it above: THIS RACE WILL BE DETERMINED BY TURNOUT!!!!

I want all Cagle supporters and staff from the campaign (b/c we know all the campaigns’ staffs read PP) to listen to me closely: GET YOUR SUPPORTERS OUT TO VOTE!!!!!!!!!!

Nothing else matters at this point. Every media organization could run 10 negative stories a day about Ralph from now until Primary Day, and that would not win the race for Casey. The media is fighting your media war for you – Casey doesn’t need to put any resources towards this.

From this day on, the only thing that matters is GOTV – GET YOUR FREAKIN PEOPLE TO VOTE!!!!!!!

Negative media for Ralph will not get people out to vote. Everyone that will be affected by negative media attention has already heard the stories and most likely decided not to vote for Ralph or not to vote at all. That is not where the battle is.

I know firsthand – yes, I do mean firsthand – that Ralph’s strategy is 100% dependent on turning out their base. This is their strategy. The media buys have been made and the direct mail has been developed. There will be ads and mail pieces b/t now and then, but that won’t do much at this point.

So, what’s the point, you ask? GOTV is all that matters. The way for Casey to win is to get every pro-Cagle, anti-Ralph person to the polls on Primary Day.

I hope my uncreative use of repitition here is sinking in.

Oh yeah, did I mention that GOTV will decide this race? GET CASEY SUPPORTERS TO THE POLLS!!!!!

Am I the only one here that will mention that Ralph Reed has the least amount of experience out of all of the candidates? Like it or not, wouldn’t it make more sense for someone that has a clue about the position to be a better suit than someone who will obviously use the office as a means to accomplish his own agenda? I am a conservative, but I have little respect for people like Ralph Reed, who have a long history of saying claiming to be a Christian, and doing almost everything and anything against his “Christian values”.
Here’s a link to a website that talks about some of his affairs:

I think that Ralph Reed may be some sort of leader in for some people…but I do think that he is gonna burn hot in hell for being a complete and total hypocrite, and continuously taking advantage of all of those people who truly have faith. Why in the world would anyone, upper class, upper-middle, middle class support such a person? He is in it for money, not for the greater good of society, which is clearly evident through not only his business dealings, but his blatant contradictory behavior. If anyone does support Reed, I think that I could probably believe that it comes from them being on his payroll, and/or having the same values or possibly lack thereof.
Maybe Reed’s supporters would like to turn on their magical blinders and ignore all of these things, but I do believe for the rest of Georgia, it would be a slap in the face, since many people here are fully aware of Reed’s background. The funny thing about it is that the first time that I heard about Ralph Reed was a comment within the L.A. Times in 1996 that he had made regarding the Christian Coalition..I think that it went something like this: “We move steathily as if by cover of night, and only at the last moment, then make our presence known”. I thought that comment was scary then, and even scarier now.

John McLaughlin ran Casey’s poll, conducted May 9-11 with a sample of 400 likely GOP voters. It was not a push poll or a hypothetical candidate poll or an informed ballot poll! And yes there are significant differences between those.

The sample size is pretty small for a statewide race and so the margin of error is high. However the intent is to measure progress not to forecast the actual outcome. The actual outcome is a major unknown in any primary.

Of course GOTV is the most important factor in the final days and weeks, Casey’s team is on it.

Reed however faces a major dilemma. The undecided’s are so high in all of the polls that have been taken AND Reed has very high negatives.

This means that there is a very high statistical probability that Reed GOTV efforts will turn out a very high ratio of people who ultimately vote for Cagle. Even if Reed has surgical precision and the most accurate targeting methods he still risks turning out too many of those that hold a negative opinion of him.

GaWire…my comment about Stephanie’s post had more to do with explaining to people like DEBBIE that the Cagle poll was not a “push poll” for the reasons Steph stated. I.E., that it was too early in the game to throw-out a push poll.

The questions in the Cagle poll were slanted very heavily negative toward Reed. They WERE NOT unbiased questions. Some that were called reported some of the questtions. Why won’t the Cagle campaign release the questions that were asked if they weren’t conducting a push poll or if the questions were not slanted?

mx, The Washington Post IS a VERY liberal newspaper, too. I find it rather amusing you talk about Ralph being in it for the money. Reed did not make his money while supposedly working for the taxpayers. Cagle went from renting tuxedos to BAnk President in 4 years while serving on the Senate Banking Comittee. Imagine how much Cagle could enrich himself if he were Lt. Governor.

Cagle consistently distorts the facts when it comes to Reed. Prime example:

A young lady called Thursday evening, asking whether we considered Casey Cagle’s TV hit on Ralph Reed, leading on Reed’s work for Enron, a clean hit.

Let us put it this way. Reed — one of two GOP candidates for lieutenant governor — has accused the liberal media of guilt by association when it comes to his association with Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Reed’s got a much better case when it comes to Enron.

The accusation from the New York Times in the late 1990s was that Karl Rove urged Enron head Ken Lay to hire Ralph Reed to do a bit of work for the company, back when Enron was the “it

MX24, Yes but,,,, none of that matters. Ralph built a major national organization and every Republican voter and election won is due wholly to Ralph Reed.

Experience? What’s experience got to do with the price of tea in China (well maybe a few sweatshop jobs for my friends)? Ralph’s put out a detailed plan that is outstanding. Promises a massive education plan, private school for all and if little Johnny is a problem, he’s got a fix for that too. You can send him to 1 of 8 new boot camp style campuses and let the state fix him up.

Ralph said, government should be good at doing a few things then get out of the way, but his proposals say the opposite. In his education plan there is no way to pay for it. In my opinion, if Ralph did would have the opportunity to do what he proposed (which it is impossible), it would bankrupt communities.

Facts really don’t matter, it’s all in perception. P. T. Barnum was correct, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

The Bush-Cheney Campaign sure thought a lot of Reed’s abilities because they hired him as Southeastern Regional Director. Florida is in that region. You do remember Florida don’t you? Florida was a huge battleground state in 2000 and 2004. The outcome on the election hinged basically on Florida and they hired Reed.

Cagle has had experience feathering his own nest while serving the taxpayers. Cagle has had experience caving in under pressure. I don’t want that kind of experience representing me.

Until you can prove or show a vote that Cagle took that personally benefitted him, people are going to continue thinking that you are a raving lunatic that has absolutely no clue about the world around you. I, for one, am sure that you aren’t a complete nutcase that needs to reserve a room in Milledgeville and would hope that you would make every effort to prove that to the others who post on these boards.

For their sake, not mine, show us a piece of evidence of a lack of ethics in Cagle’s business handlings.

Demonbeck, Cagle voted for and introduced legislation that involved that banking industry while he was Bank President. Cagle increased his wealth 900% while serving on the Senate Banking committee. The average voter will not view that in a favorible light.

I think you are either a complete nutcase or just as corrupt as Cagle is.

You guys yell all the time about Reed is aobut to be indicted, where is your evidence? The report mentioned nothing about wrong doing or breaking the law on Reed’s part yet you keep spreading the false rumor Reed will be indicted.

Multiple pieces of evidence have been presented time and again on Reed’s corrupt/immoral/unethical/whathaveyou business dealings. Hell, even the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs has looked into them! Yet you continue to call Cagle corrupt and cannot come up with ONE vote that shows Cagle as being corrupt? All I am asking is for ONE vote that Cagle made where he should have recused himself.

Since I’m so simple, let me make sure I get this. Cagle has a (non-push) poll done at the end of May that puts him 6 points ahead of Ralph. SV does one less than a month later with Ralph ahead by 4 points. And the spinmeisters over at Cagle HQ want us to believe that the 10 point difference is a good trend for their guy?

Kind of like giving $1000 to Mark Taylor was good for the GOP?

Kind of like lying about it in a press release and then “correcting” the mistake 7 weeks later is not a lie?

Kind of like Cagle walking off the floor and failing to protect private property rights is good for us?

Kind of like enriching himself at the public’s expense is morally right?

Kind of like supporting his special interest developer buddies and helping them to take our property is good for Georgia?

Kind of like when trial lawyers and lobbyists give big to him, he’s not the special interest candidate?

Kind of like how the smokefilled backroom boybs want the party not involved in choosing the candidate and they have tried to get Ralph out of the race.

Kind of like how if the liberal AJC, radical teacher’s union GAE, ultra-liberal NYT, DNC, and others support Cagle, he is a real Republican.

Sorry, this simpleton ain’t buying that beachfront property in Arizona! Maybe Cagle should air his ads right after the 30 min infomercials. That crowd will buy anything!

Bill B, I am going to recommend that you attend a College Republican educational event, which hopefully my friend Jeff Emanuel will conduct, titled “the basics of statistical research and analysis in the political setting.”

You could use it.

And, as far as beachfront property in Arizona … didn’t I hear something about Ralph Reed getting paid $4 million to sell oceanfront property to indian tribes in Nevada or something like that? That’s y’all’s area of expertise, so we will leave it to you guys and the Indian Affairs committee!

Typical Cagle style…can’t discuss issues so attack the person. Hasn’t worked since he began attacking Reed over a year ago and still not working. Maybe you could come up with a few clever attack websites about me?!? 😉

10 point slide in one month…or the campaign makes up fake numbers to appear to be going well. Either way, it’s good news for the Reed campaign!

Maybe Cagle should ask Mark Taylor to give the $1000 back since he doesn’t look like he will need it to beat Cathy.

Ok, let me just jump in here and put a stop to the “blowing” conversation.

Bill B, your “10 point slide” is a figment of your imagination. It doesn’t exist. You have misunderstood or mis-analyzed the situation … either way, it is wrong, so quit using that as your defense.

I’m not attacking you … I’m telling you that your analysis is humorously innaccurate. It’s almost as funny as someone like Ralph Reed accuzing someone else of questionable ethics.

But, who cares about all that anyways … let’s get back to the basics. I have a revalation that is going to blow everyone’s socks off and here it is … are you ready? … Here it comes … be prepared … watch out:

THIS RACE IS GOING TO BE DETERMINED BY TURNOUT SO GET EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO GET OUT AND VOTE FOR CASEY CAGLE!!!!!!!!!!

(I will get this point across to every single reader, even if I have to knock on their door and throw the printout in their faces:) )

Wire,
Am i understanding you have just acknowledged that the Cagle campaign not only lied with their Mark Taylor “threatened me” press release, but with their release of a fake poll showing them 6 points ahead?

So Reed is still in the lead and that has never changed?

Why would a campaign with so much momentum release fake numbers? Why would a campaign doing so well continue to issue obviously false information?

Wait a minute…you don’t think…nah…couldn’t be…could it? Has the entire Cagle campaign just been spin in the hopes that Ralph would get indicted? And now that it’s obvious to everyone (but the staff) that Ralph has broken no laws and done nothing wrong, their campaign is going nowhere?

Demonbeck,Ga Wire there is no sense debating with these clowns… they are enept weak as water patsies that must follow a egotistical light weight that would have been a nobody if he had not used religion to his own gain at the expense of other weak minded individuals. But they are playing with the big boys now and they will go down and be exposed for what they are. Nuclear summer has BEGAN bring it JOEL!!!!! and don’t stop until they stop wiggling..and then hit him again just in case…

Judging from the lack of spelling and grammar, SouthernComfort must be a un-educated guy. Probably didn’t go to college. Maybe made money off connections. Hey…you don’t think…could it be him…posting on here…what would his single mom think?

Demonbeck, isn’t that the group run by Matt Towery and Chuck Clay, both Cagle supporters?

JSM, my husband was at one time represented by Cagle during the Barnes regime and he thinks Cagle is basically a worthless piece of excrement and I have heard similar sentiments from others in his district.

Reed has more character and COURAGE than Cagle ever thought about having!

Mac Collins has been known to eat a twelve egg omelet for breakfast and wears a size 14 shoe. He owns a trucking business and can spout off on the intricacies of Federal tax law. I wouldn’t want to tangle with him physically or mentally!

Who said I was talking about Cagle? He isn’t the first person to be raised by a single mom, but you wouldn’t know it by his chip on the shoulder news releases. He’s not the first person to not graduate college, but apparently his supporters carry a pretty large chip about that too.

Since we can’t compare Ralph’s college record to Cagle’s, maybe the Cagle campaign will release Cagle’s high school discipline report, grades, and assorted coloring projects!

Bill B. I am not CC, HOWEVER I was raised by a single mother. You are nothing but a little moron sitting at his computer looking for the next cult to join. I would invite the opportunity to buy you a drink and compare both our educational background,as well as our professional track record.You are correct in your assumption I have connections, however we suceed together. The boy you have sold your soul to plays on patsies like you to pay his way, and like all ****** you smile and take it. The spelling and grammer, well I will give you that,I usually have one of my assistants proof my correspondance.In closing I would like to appraise you… you wouldn’t be qualified to drive me or the next LT. GOVERNOR of our great state to our appointments simply based on your character traits and decision making process…

I’ve got a hypothetical question that I’ve been wondering for some time for Republicans backing Cagle, especially those who are vehement about their dislike for Reed.

What if Reed wins? (I know, if there is a God it won’t happen.)

But if he does, how will you vote in November? Would you support a candidate that you believe with all of your heart to be corrupt simply to add a Republican to the GA rolls or would you vote a Dem in who is qualified and not as ethically challenged? Basically it boils down to this–is party loyalty more important to you than principle.

For me, an Independent, it is no conflict because even though I support Cagle, I’ll vote for a Dem over Reed any day. However, it is probably a dilemma for many loyal Republicans–hence, the reason for my question.

Northside elephant, the State Senators have toned down their rhetoric on Reed quite a bit. I talked to Sen. Rodgers last week and this morning. He told me he would work hard and support the GOP nominee no matter who it was. I think most will. It is rather foolish to think the State Senators will not offer support and help Reed if he has the support of enough voters to win. They will risk ticking off those voters if they oppose Reed.

Duluth mom, go ahead and prepare to vote for the Democrat, because Reed will win. You are not a Republican anyway…

If you are planning on voting for Cagle, then YOU support a candidate that is corrupt. Stay tuned…

Southerncomfort, you are really pathetic. Learn to deal with the fact Reed will win and quit insulting those that support Reed. Try to keep this civil. I could say that you are not qualified to even wipe my Chihuahua’s rear but that would not be civil for me to say that. Show others the respect you want to be shown..

Debbie-aka same “Cagle is corrupt” song over and over.
Quote: You are not a Republican anyway…
1. What does that have to do with my question?
2. I clearly stated that I’m an Independent–used to be a straight Rep voter but yes I vote both Repub. & Dem. now.
3. My one vote counts just as much as yours.

Let’s make the hypothetical question for you then… Suppose Cagle wins (I know, you think it’s impossible) will you support him, a man who you’ve denounced as morally corrupt (ad nauseum) to get a Rep seat or will you vote otherwise.

It’s all part of my earlier question is party loyalty more important than your principles?